The Moo-Cow

This is a profoundly moral tale of lost innocence and adult cruelty. Do you agree? Ammaniti's novel I'm Not Scared set in Acqua Traverse, Italy 1978 is a powerful text, which explores relevant social themes and issues. Besides being a tale of adult cruelty and lost innocence we cannot ignore the role in which loyalty and betrayal play in the novel. These central themes make this novel a compelling text. In the novel Michelle journeys from a joyful innocent child into a perceptive and wiser youth. Initially we view Michelle as a child who is very compassionate, willing to "do the forfeit" for Barbara to exempt her from Skull's cruelty. As the story progresses qualities namely courage and something. The introduction, discussion questions, suggestions for further reading, and author biography that follow are designed to enhance your group's discussion of I'm Not Scared, Niccolт Ammaniti's troubling and moving tale of one boy's initiation into the darker secrets of adulthood. I'm Not Scared is preceded by an epigraph by Jack London: "That much he knew. He had fallen into darkness. And at the instant he knew, he ceased to know." Why has Niccolт Ammaniti chosen to begin his novel with this quote? How does it illuminate what happens in the story? What is the literal and symbolic significance, in terms of the novel, of falling into darkness? The novel opens with a scene in which Michele must choose between winning the race or helping his sister Maria. What conflicts and choices does this moment prefigure? What is revealed about Michele's character at this point? How does Ammaniti recreate the texture and atmosphere of childhood in his novel? What aspects of Michele's way of seeing himself and the world seem most authentically childlike? Michele first stumbles onto Filippo because of a sacrifice he makes to save his friend Barbara. What are the ultimate consequences of this decision? Where else does Michele demonstrate this generosity and willingness to sacrifice himself? Why does Michele identify with Filippo so strongly? Why does he think at first that Filippo is his brother? Why does he feel that Filippo "was mine and that they had taken him away from me". Michele father's once told him to "Stop all this talk about monsters. . . . Monsters don't exist. It's men you should be afraid of, not monsters" [p. 170]. In what ways does the novel itself prove the truth of this statement? What does it say about Michele's father that he would offer this advice to his son? In the games they play and in their behavior toward one another, how do Michele and his group of friends--Salvatore, Skull, Remo, and Barbara--compare to the adults in the novel? In what ways are the children's minor cruelties mirrored in the adults' more

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